PubCrawl Podcast: POV

This week JJ and Kelly tackle another writing topic: POV, or Point of View. APOLOGIES FOR THE DELAY, everyone! The week this episode was supposed to go up was release week for JJ, so she had no time to edit or put up show notes. Still, better late than never, right?

Subscribe to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, or use this feed to subscribe through your podcast service of choice! If you like us, please, please, please leave a rating or review, as it helps other listeners find the podcast. We cherish each and every one of you who have taken the time to leave us feedback; you’re the stars in our sky!

Show Notes

POV, or Point of View, is the perspective in which a story is told.

In modern writing, we generally tell stories from 2.5 perspectives: first person and third person limited/third person omniscient.

First person

Commonly found in young adult these days

Is more emotionally intimate/immediate than third person

Is a bit more narrow or limited in scope (i.e. does not extend beyond the protagonist’s thoughts or experiences); this does not mean the narrative is limited or narrow in scope, just that the reader knows only what the protagonist knows.

The closeness and subjectivity of this POV can allow for an unreliable narrator (i.e. the protagonist withholds information from the reader or is continually changing their story).

It is easiest to achieve a distinct “voice” in the first person; however, it can also be used as a crutch.

First person past vs. first person present

First person past is pretty simple, e.g. “I walked to my car.”

First person present is “I walk to my car.”

Most first person is in past tense, but be careful if you choose to write in first person present tense.

Present tense adds a layer of urgency to an already intimate POV, and can be used to great effect in books where action is very tense (e.g. The Hunger Games).

Third person limited

Allows for some objectivity in terms of perspective

Sticks fairly close to the perspective of one character but allows for some elasticity of POV to give context to the character whose “head” we are in, i.e. it is the most “flexible” POV

Is also the most “invisible” POV (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing!)

Third person omniscient

Comes from the Latin meaning “all-knowing”

Is fairly rare these days (but a bit more common in middle grade)

Has a “birds-eye view” perspective of what is going on; can give a greater picture of what is happening.

Omniscient is best when used sparingly

Other POVS

Third person present: most third person (limited or omniscient) is written in past tense

Second person: can be reminiscent of 80s/90s Choose Your Own Adventure books